Capital Facts

Gov. Pritzker’s graduated tax plan so far is easy to like

Published by admin on Wed, 03/13/2019 - 8:00am

 

Democrats often propose ideas that take forever to explain and are often difficult for the masses to understand. That wasn't the case last week.

Who will help derail anti-business bills?

Published by admin on Mon, 03/04/2019 - 12:59pm

    A lobbyist who works for a business-related organization asked me a question the other day that I've been hearing a lot lately: "Who's going to be the stopper now?"
     What he meant was, who in the legislative process can be counted on these days to help derail bills which are deemed hostile to business interests?

Pritzker budget expansions far outweight cuts

Published by admin on Mon, 02/25/2019 - 10:26am

    Give Gov. JB Pritzker some credit, the man can give a good speech.
     Last week's budget address was well-written and respectful of its audience and effectively used Illinois history to make its points. The governor delivered the address like... well... a governor. Unlike some previous occupants of that office, he didn't try to make himself look better at the General Assembly's expense. He didn't propose totally outrageous revenue or spending ideas that had zero chance of passage.

Skimping on pension debt isn’t the answer

Published by admin on Wed, 02/20/2019 - 8:00am

 

Gov. JB Pritzker's administration has confirmed that its new public pension plan will slash $800 million from the state's scheduled pension payment next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Organizing against Illinois ‘tax the rich’ proposal

Published by admin on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 8:00am

 

Two "dark money" groups are stepping up to separately promote and attack the new governor's agenda. 

Madigan on tape doesn’t mean he’s guilty

Published by admin on Wed, 02/06/2019 - 8:00am

 

We've known for weeks now that the FBI recorded Chicago Ald. Ed Burke's mobile phone conversations over a period of eight months, listening in on 9,475 calls. And then we discovered that the feds had wired up Chicago Ald. Danny Solis during his own conversations with Burke.

Illinois Republican Party in sad shape

Published by admin on Wed, 01/30/2019 - 9:00am

    We all know that former Governor Bruce Rauner was outspent by our new Governor JB Pritzker during the 2018 campaign. But the actual numbers are pretty darned eye-opening.
    During the final three months of last year, Pritzker reported spending $37.2 million. Rauner, on the other hand, spent just $7.1 million - less than a fifth of his Democratic rival's expenditures.
    Overall, Pritzker's campaign committee spent $173.1 million since its formation in March of 2017.

Sky high expectations for Governor Pritzker

Published by admin on Mon, 01/14/2019 - 11:42am

    I missed JB Pritzker’s impromptu speech to a gathering of Republicans last week by a few minutes. But the fact that Pritzker even stopped by the event, hosted by Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, was notable in and of itself.

Freshmen lawmakers give off a different vibe

Published by admin on Wed, 12/26/2018 - 9:00am

 

I attended two parties in one evening last month that seemed to complement each other.

Arizona cut pension benefits, but Illinois won’t

Published by admin on Sun, 12/16/2018 - 4:20pm

 

We’ve seen a big push over the past few weeks for an Arizona-style pension “fix” here. That state’s voters have twice approved constitutional amendments to limit future benefits for public employees – once in 2016 and then again last month.